The Malay influence has been shown not only in the building of outrigger canoes, but in the popularity of piracy among the natives of the East Indies. Probably the Malays have been pirates ever since there has been commerce in those waters upon which to prey. It is certain that the earliest European vessels to wander into the distant Orient found the industry established, active, and prosperous. Steam navigation, improved firearms, and the electric telegraph have done much to curb the propensities of these merciless marauders, and the influence of noble men like Rajah Brooke of Sarawak has been of equal value. But they found it a hard lesson to learn that commerce must be respected and commercial vessels let alone; it was gradually accepted as inevitable that piratical exploits would be followed by the visit of a European gunboat which would blow every Malay proa and pirate to pieces at the first opportunity. This idiosyncrasy of the Western world had to be observed, but the pirate does not take kindly to the uninterrupted ways of peace, and whenever he can he indulges in his hereditary calling, though his victims may be only small native trading boats and junks. [Illustration: HEAD-HUNTING CANOE FROM YSABEL. _By permission of C. M. Woodford, Esq., F.R.G.S., and the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland._] [Illustration: HEAD-HUNTING CANOE FROM YSABEL (DETAIL OF BOW). _By permission of C. M. Woodford, Esq., F.R.G.S., and the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland._] The Malay dug-outs intended for piracy or war were broader than those intended for other purposes. A writer in 1848[12] described them as built of timber in the lower part, with the upper part of rattan, bamboo, and dried palm leaves, this lighter part being added to prevent the sea washing in over the low sides. “Outside the bends,” he continues, “about a foot from the water line, runs a strong gallery in which the rowers sit cross-legged.” Apparently the gallery was on or outside the gunwale, an arrangement which would help to steady the long, narrow hull. Then, as now, a cabin was placed in the after part for the accommodation of the chief in command of the boat, but an interesting feature of the proa he describes was an unrailed flat roof extending from the cabin roof almost the length of the ship and serving a double purpose of providing a fighting deck for the warriors and affording shelter for the crew. The weapons were the kris and spear, which “to be used with effect require elbow room.” As the Malays were energetic fighters, they were seldom long in obtaining all the elbow room necessary. A brass gun in the prow, under the flying deck, was the only firearm.